Merger brings executive shakeup at Questar

Questar Corp. has announced that its chairman, president and CEO will retire when its merger with Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion is complete. Ron Jibson will remain on the job until later this year when the companies expect to consummate the transaction combining the two energy producers.

Questar Corp. has announced that its chairman, president and CEO will retire when its merger with Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion is complete. Ron Jibson will remain on the job until later this year when the companies expect to consummate the transaction combining the two energy producers.

Simultaneous with the announcement of Jibson’s retirement, the company named longtime Questar Corp. executive Craig C. Wagstaff to lead its western U.S. natural gas operation after the merger. Wagstaff, currently president of Questar Gas Co., will become president of Dominion Questar. He will be responsible for all current Questar operating companies, including what are now the Questar Gas local utility, Questar Pipeline and Wexpro natural gas development business.

Dominion Questar will be based at the current Questar corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City.

Two other Dominion Questar executive appointments also were made. Colleen Larkin Bell, Questar vice president and general counsel, will become Dominion Questar vice president and general manager of Dominion Questar Gas. Brady B. Rasmussen, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wexpro, will become Dominion Questar vice president and general manager of Dominion Wexpro. They will report to Wagstaff.

Wagstaff also will become a senior vice president of Dominion and report to David A. Christian, chief executive officer of the Dominion Energy Infrastructure Group and chief executive officer of Dominion Virginia Power. Christian is responsible for all Dominion electric and natural gas local distribution and transmission businesses.

“Craig, Colleen and Brady have shown outstanding judgment and have a commitment to excellence and deep roots in the community, making them ideal leaders for Dominion Questar,” said Dominion chairman, president and CEO Thomas F. Farrell II. “We look forward to them continuing Questar’s traditions of cost-effective service and a focus on safety.”

“We believe it is important for customers, employees and other stakeholders of Questar to know the leadership team in place following Ron’s retirement will be fully aware of important local issues and have an innate understanding of the operations to ensure a smooth transition under the combined banner,” Farrell said. “We look forward to announcing the rest of the leadership team soon.”

Jibson will retire as Questar’s chairman after serving since July 2012. He has been Questar’s president and CEO since July 2010. Prior to that, he was an executive vice president of the corporation and president of its utility subsidiary, Questar Gas Co., which serves about 1 million customers in Utah, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming. Jibson has held several Questar executive and management positions since starting with the company as a design engineer in 1980.

“On behalf of Questar’s board and shareholders, I’d like to thank Ron for his years of service as Questar’s chairman and CEO, and for his long career with Questar, which he has been instrumental in building into one of the nation’s premier energy firms,” said Harris H. Simmons, Questar’s lead director and Zions Bancorporation’s chairman and CEO. “Ron has led Questar with great integrity, and he’s been both a driving force for economic development and a deeply engaged community leader in the Intermountain West.”

“It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime to help lead Questar over the past several years,” Jibson said. “I’m proud to have worked with employees who have so successfully operated one of the nation’s most respected energy companies. The fact that another top-tier company sees the benefits of combining forces is evidence of their hard work. I look forward to helping complete our combination with Dominion, and I’m confident it will be great for our customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve.”

In his 32-year career at Questar, Wagstaff has held various management positions in customer service, economic development, marketing, regional operations, and public and community relations. He became a vice president and general manager of Questar Gas in 2010, with promotions to senior vice president in 2011 and to executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2012. He was named president of Questar Gas in March 2015. Wagstaff also serves as executive vice president of Questar Corp.

Wagstaff serves on various industry and community boards, including the Western Energy Institute (WEI), the American Gas Association’s (AGA) leadership council, Utah Clean Cities, and United Way of Salt Lake. He is chairman of Junior Achievement of Utah and past chair of the American Red Cross of Salt Lake, AGA/Edison Electric Institute (EEI) customer-service committee, and WEI’s customer-connections executive committee. He attended Weber State University and the University of Utah, completing undergraduate degrees in business and marketing. He has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University.

Bell has been employed by Questar for 26 years. She became general counsel of Questar Gas in 2008, assistant general counsel of Questar Corp. in 2010, and vice president and general counsel in 2011. She assumed her current position in March 2015. She serves on the AGA legal committee, on the boards of trustees of the Legal Aid Society, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, the Pioneer Theatre Company and the Utah Foundation. She has a bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Utah.

Rasmussen joined Questar 21 years ago. He was named general manager of accounting for Wexpro in 2011 and promoted to vice president of administration at Wexpro in 2013. He was promoted to his current position in June 2015. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Utah State University.

Dominion and Questar announced on Feb. 1 an agreement for the companies to combine in an all-cash transaction in which Dominion has agreed to pay Questar shareholders $25 per share — about $4.4 billion — and assume Questar’s outstanding debt.

The pending merger will create an integrated energy company serving about 2.5 million electric utility customers and 2.3 million gas utility customers in seven states. The combined company also would operate more than 15,500 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipelines, one of the nation’s largest natural gas storage systems, and approximately 24,300 megawatts of electric generation.